A wick-type nib pen which delivers a steady flow of coloring liquid has been available in Europe and Japan as a delivery system for eyeliner cosmetics. The nib pen is similar in construction to cartridge-type pens and includes a shell portion having a wick formed of urethane-nylon of desired porosity extending out from one end, which shell is adapted to hold a liquid eyeliner cartridge in connection with the wick. The liquid eyeliner flows from the cartridge into the wick and is subsequently delivered by capillary action to the user.
Pigments employed in the nib pen liquid eyeliner are water-soluble organic colors and carbon black pigments which are easily solubilized and flow through the wick without clogging same.
Unfortunately, such water-soluble organic colors are not approved for use in eye cosmetics in the U.S. Those pigments approved by the FDA for use in eye products are conventional inorganic pigments, such as iron oxides, which are not readily water-soluble but are water-dispersible. The approved FDA pigments are available only in relatively large particle size which will not allow such pigment particles to pass through the wick of a nib pen without causing undue clogging. Accordingly, a need exists in the U.S. for an eyeliner composition which may be employed with a wick-type nib pen and will contain FDA approved eye product pigments.